Transitions

I read the following in an email this week from a yoga studio. It characterizes almost perfectly how I am feeling: "September is a month of gradual shift between summer and fall. This shift provides a range of new opportunities and new challenges - which can be simultaneously exhilarating and tumultuous..."

Transitions have always been hard for me. I value change. And, in fact, I love the beginning of each season each year. I always find myself at that time saying "Fall is my favorite season" or spring, or winter or summer. I don't really have a favorite and it seems odd that I would say I love each at the beginning when I find transition challenging. But I think the transition to fall is the hardest for me. The pace picks up, there is less time for myself and most definitely less time with my friends. This year it is especially true after such a rich summer - filled with adventures and good friends.

And I find that transitions also seem to accentuate what's missing.

No running goal - which is a good thing - but it's still a shift away from that single focus and there is an emptiness there, but that is also one of those voids that is a place of possibility. Because without a running goal, Sunday long runs with the girls can be more about finding new trails and enjoying each other's company.

The transition to a faster pace at work, in an office that is missing two staff - one temporarily and one permanently - has definitely challenged me. I find myself not crossing things off my task list, yet working a full day. And I find myself missing my colleagues - noticing that their presence is not a part of my experience.

And at the end of the days, I'm exhausted, going home to my exuberant dog. Thank goodness for Sydney, because without Sydney my house would seem so empty. She's loving and she wags her whole body; if only she could talk :-)

But it's the weekend and I have an abundance of fresh, organic veggies and a couple of recipes in mind for immediate consumption and at least one for the freezer for busy days ahead. If that doesn't fill some of the void, then nothing can.